Age of Sigmar/Tactics/Warscrolls Compendium/Tomb Kings
Now with points in GHB 2019! They were always matched play legal, but that's a nice touch.
Allegiance Abilities
Tomb Kings don't have any allegiance abilities of their own, so you're stuck with the Grand Alliance Death allegiance abilities from the Core Book. You can, however, use the artefacts from Malign Sorcery.
Icon Bearers: all of your skelly units (doesn't include Ushabti, Carrion etc) can include Icon Bearers. You can use these in your hero phase to resurrect slain models - Legionnaires and Archers get d6 models back. Horsemen, Horse Archers and Tomb Guard get d3 models back. Chariots and Necropolis Knights get a single model back. A very useful thing to have, but bear in mind that some armies have spells or attacks that can target a specific model in your unit (such as a Giant or Morathi's shooting attack), so they may try to snipe out your icon bearer.
Hornblowers: your skelly units can include musicians as well. These do two things: if you ever make a charge roll of less than 6, the hornblower still lets you charge 6". Very handy to avoid fluffing a charge at close range. It also lets you run and shoot in the same turn, for those units with bows (Archers, Horse Archers and Chariots)
Warscrolls
Heroes
Tomb King on Exalted Chariot: What used to be Settra the Imperishable, this is now a generic unit (so, not being a named character anymore, he can be given an artefact and command trait). He moves 10", has a 3+ save and 8 wounds, and has a scarab amulet that gives him a 5+ roll to negate wounds or mortal wounds he suffers. He has a strong melee weapon - four attacks at -2 rend and 3 damage, and he gets two extra attacks on the charge. His horses do 8 attacks, they're not great attacks that only wound on 5+ with no rend, but on the charge they get 16 attacks instead and +1 to wound. On top of this he has two awesome things going for him: his command ability and his prayer. His command ability gives your guys a bonus in your following combat phase if they are within 18" of the King when they attack: friendly TOMB KINGS units get +1 to hit, and friendly DESERT LEGIONS units get +1 to wound as well. Note that the +1 to hit will affect the whole army, but the +1 to wound only works for certain units. Also note that it doesn't affect shooting and it doesn't last through your opponent's turn. His prayer works on a 2+ and lets you select a single friendly DESERT LEGIONS unit within 18"; in your following movement phase, this unit doubles its movement and can fly. Necropolis Knights get to move 16" this way, Skeleton Chariots can move 20". If the prayer fails on a 1, the King takes a mortal wound. He also has a crown which unfortunately was written for the previous edition of AoS and hasn't been updated. It used to allow other nearby TK heroes to use their command abilities even though they aren't the general. But ever since the introduction of command points, this rule doesn't really do anything and GW can't be bothered updating it. Finally, if the enemy kills this guy, the unit that killed him takes d6 mortal wounds.
Tomb Queen: The old Khalida model, no longer a named character. The main thing about her is her command ability; for 1cp she gives +1 to hit for all friendly DESERT LEGIONS units in your shooting phase. DESERT LEGIONS units that shooting attacks are Skeleton Archers, Skeleton Chariots, Skeleton Horse Archers and the Warsphinx (but not the Royal Warsphinx). Note that there is no range restriction here. If she's the General then Skeleton Archers become battleline. She also has a shooting attack from her venom staff, 18" range, one shot with no rend but d6 damage. Also, if an enemy unit is selected to fight within 3" of her, she can immediately jump the queue and hit first if she hasn't fought already. She also has a curse that does d3 mortal wounds to the enemy unit that kills her.
Scarab Prince: Can be placed in reserves and pop out later, anywhere more than 9" from enemies. Has five attacks with no rend and 1 damage, but gets +1 to hit and wound rolls against heroes in melee. Has a 10" range shooting attack as well, 2d6 shots with no rend, and when he dies he can immediately do his shooting attack before being removed. He moves 12", can fly and can heal a wound in each of your hero phases.
Tomb King: Like most "Lord-level" Heroes, he's very resilient and combat capable. Deals d3 mortal wounds to whoever kills him, his shield allows him to reroll saves (or you can give him a two-handed Monarch's Great Blade if you want more Rend and Damage, but you're much better off with the shield) and his command ability ("My will be done") gives a DESERT LEGIONS unit within 18" +1 to run, charge and hit rolls. And in this army that can be amazing, because of how many models do nasty things when you roll a 6+ to hit with their attacks. Apart from being a force multiplier, the King's ability will make those effects happen 1/3 of the time instead of 1/6, so he doubles the chance. It's also an automatic combo with the Liche Priest spell (extra attack on 6+ to hit), so pay attention to where you place him to make the most of his ability. Also, pair him with a Tomb Herald to give him extra killyness and 5 more Wounds. Use him well, and the King will win the game for you.
Tomb King in Royal Chariot: Moves 10", eight wounds and a 3". Same weapon as a Vampire Lord but he gets two extra attacks on the charge. Also has four crappy horse kicks but they get double attacks on the charge. Still haves the "d3 mortal wounds to whoever kills him" rule, and his command ability allows him and every Skeleton Chariot within 18" to reroll charges. This isn't great because you can simply wait to see if you fail the charge and then spend a CP to reroll it anyway, assuming you have a hero close enough.
Tomb Herald: The main thing this guy does is his Standard of the Undying Legion. In your hero phase, he can activate his banner which brings back a slain model to all of your DESERT LEGIONS units within 24" of the Herald. Works especially well for Necropolis Knights and Skeleton Chariots since you're getting a 5-wound model back. However, if the Herald does activate his banner, he can't move at all until your next hero phase. The other thing he does is function as a bodyguard for any friendly EMBALMED heroes (which is basically all the Kings, the Queen and the Scarab Prince); if he's within 3" when they suffer damage, then on a 2+ the wound is transferred to the Herald instead.
Liche Priest: A one-cast one-unbind wizard. Has a scroll that can be used once per game to automatically succeed an unbind attempt, very useful. His unique spell targets a DESERT LEGIONS or REANIMANT unit within 18": for each hit roll of 6+, they generate an extra attack with the same weapon. Note that this is 6+, not unmodified 6s, so it gets much better when you have +1s to hit from a Tomb King, Tomb Queen, or the Tomb King on Exalted Chariot.
Casket of Souls: 8 wounds and a 4+ save (but gets +1 to its save against shooting attacks). Only moves 2" and can't charge. Every Liche Priest within 18" gets +1 to casting, and it can unbind a single spell in each turn... but the main thing is obviously what happens when you open the casket, which you can do in each of your hero phases. You choose an enemy unit within 20" and on a 3+ it suffers d3 mortal wounds (d6 if their Bravery is 4 or less), then every unit within 6" from that one suffers the same on a 5+.
Royal Warsphinx: A Khemrian Warsphinx mounted by a Tomb King instead of four skeletons, so he's slightly better in combat. Has the same rule as the Beastclaw Raiders Stonehorn: all weapons attacking him halve their Damage characteristic, rounding up; and also halves the number of mortal wounds he suffers from spells and similar abilities. Has the usual curse rule as the other two Tomb King variants, and his command ability lets him choose a visible enemy unit (there's no range restriction) and then all of your EMBALMED and DESERT LEGIONS units get +1 to wound against it.
Necrotect: Do you like giant war statues made of stone, bone and gold? He does, too, he'll be your friend. He can choose a DESERT LEGIONS unit within 8" and give it +3 Move and the ability to reroll every 1 to wound, which can be useful. Also, he gives various buffs to some of your other units, but they're on their warscrolls, not his. He improves Bone Giants, Tomb Scorpions, Ushabtis and Screaming Skull Catapults; they will be discussed in their own entries.
Battleline
Skeleton Chariots: Moves 10", five wounds and a 5+ armour save. Has six melee attacks per chariot (two from the skelly crew and four horse kicks). However, on the charge the number of attacks is doubled, so a unit of three chariots is rolling 36 attacks on the charge (37 thanks to the champion). Each chariot also gets to fire two bow shots at 18" range, only hitting on 5+ with no rend so don't expect too much from that. They get great use of their Icon Bearer to bring back a slain chariot in each of your hero phases. All in all a solid Battleline unit.
Skeletal Legionnaires: The warscroll is very similar to the Skeleton Warriors from Legions of Nagash with a few differences. Their shields work differently; you can choose to put your shields up in the movement phase which gives you +1 to save rolls until your next movement phase, but you can't run or charge if you do so. They get +1 to hit in melee if there is a friendly EMBALMED hero (the various royalty heroes). And obviously having different keywords, the synergies are different - by combining a Tomb King's My Will Be Done command ability with Righteous Smiting from a Liche Priest, your legionnaires can have 3 attacks each (assuming at least thirty of them are still alive), with each hit roll of 4+ generating an additional attack.
Skeleton Horsemen: A decent chaff unit for 100 points, they can move rather fast with a 12" move and the ability to run and charge. They won't do much damage to the enemy but they can scoot around to snag objectives, get in the way, tag enemies in combat and so on. Not a bad unit at all.
Skeleton Archers (Battleline if the army is entirely TOMB KINGS and the general is a Tomb Queen): The bow has 20" range, and the archers get two shots each if there are least twenty in the unit and there are no enemies within 3". No rend and normally hitting on 5+, but you can use a Tomb Queen's command ability to boost the hit rolls, and a Liche Priest's Righteous Smiting is good for these guys too. They only move 4" but remember that they can run and shoot thanks to their musician.
Troops
Tomb Scorpions: Can save any spell-induced wound on a 5+ (4+ if there is a Necrotect within 18") and do the same pop out ability as Apophas (but arriving at least 6" of any enemy unit, instead of 9). And that's awesome, because you'll reach the unit that was your target that same turn with a charge more often than not. This thing has good rend but low damage output (deals some 3 wounds before saves each turn), which means that you have to use them in units of at least two to threaten heroes. But even alone they can be useful at killing war machines or wizards (their anti-spell save makes them specially useful against the latter). BUT they can also shine at tarpitting (yes, you can still tarpit in Age of Sigmar, everyone can retreat from combat, but they basically waste the turn by doing so) hordes without rend. The scorpion has 5W and a 4+ save, so the horde will have to deal some 10 wounds to kill it in a turn, which is unlikely. And a Death wizard within 18" can add another scorpion to the unit with a spell that has the low value of 6, so you can hold them up indefinitely (with a little luck) at the cost of a scorpion and a wizard, adding a new scorpion each turn to replace the one that will most likely die. You can even do this with only two scorpion models, always "resurrecting" the dead one, trolling GW in the proccess.
Ushabti: Giant god statues with 5 wounds and a 5+ save. Get +2 Save against attacks dealing a single wound and reroll every 1 to save if a Necrotect is within 18". So, against the vast majority of things they have 3+ save rerolling 1s, one of the best in the game. Add a Death Wizard to resurrect one of them with the "Reanimate Ushabti" 5+ spell (or just add +1 to their save with Mystic Shield), and they'll be almost indestructible. They can be shooty with oversized bows, or go for combat with their blade-staves. It's probably better to just go for melee, 'cause they only shoot once per turn, but they have 24" range, -1 rend and D3 damage, and with their rerollable save only artillery or (truly) mass shooting can kill them, so they can also work as shooters.
Necrosphinx: THE ULTIMATE KILLING MACHINE IS HERE. He must always charge when able even if he ran (so he CAN run and charge, very threatening), you roll 3 dices and discard the lower when charging, and suffers halved wounds/mortal wounds (and a Death wizard 18" of it can heal it D3 wounds with a 6+ spell). If he rolls 6 to wound with at least two of his Scything Blades when attacking a monster, HE DEALS 10 MORTAL WOUNDS (would be useful if it happened with hit rolls, as it is, it's too difficult). Also, each of the aforemented Scything Blades attacks (4 in total, FYI) deal 3 wounds each with a rend value of -3. Ouch. So, it's got enormous defense, offense, and mobility (it also flies). One of the best monsters of the game.
Sepulchral Stalkers: Can do the same pop out thing as Aphopas, except they can also go away and come back in the next turn. Their Missile Weapon is based on a d6 roll: on a 1 the Stalkers suffer a mortal wound, on a 4+ the target unit suffers a mortal wound and on a 6 the mortal wounds are d3 (they turn the victims to sand, rad, I know). They emerge from the sands at 9" of the enemy minimun, and the range of their gaze is 10", so you can shoot that same turn, then try to charge. That, combined with their rend -1, makes them good at stalking armored units, but they're pretty vulnerable, with only 5+ save (but 5 wounds). So, if you're stuck in a disadvantagous combat, or already killed/maimed enough your target, you can teleport again at the cost of a turn (you don't get healead or anything, as the Tomb Swarm rules probe, but a Death Wizard within 18" of them can add one model to the unit with a 5+ spell, can be useful).
Bone Giant: Killy as any giant but also well protected with a 4+ save. Gets an extra attack for every 6 to hit (and has 7 attacks, so on average you'll get an extra attack), and after he attacked you roll a dice and on a 5+ (4+ if a Necrotect is within 18") he gets to pileup and attack again. Death Wizards, on a 5+, make them reroll failed hit rolls. With that and the unique spell of Liche Priests (extra attack on 6 to hit, same as the Giant's first ability), you end up with lots of extra attacks that can generate new extra attacks, which can be ridiculous. But he will not do the Tomb King's will, sorry, because he's no Skeleton, but a Reanimant (that is a giant skeleton... what the hell...).
Other stuff
Carrion: They charge on a 3d6 roll, but the real deal is that they're unattackable until they charge. Place them, never attack with them, and everyone hates you. But if you want them to hate you because you won legitimally, use them to kill vulnerable and isolated things. Unlike units that teleport by going beneath the sands, they must start the game in your deployment zone, even if they're flying and invulnerable. The downside is that they have to go from there to their target, but with their 12" move, "high flying" and 3d6 charge they'll arrive fast. The upside is that you can guarantee the charge by getting 3" from the target, and if you are farther and fail the charge, you won't drop down (that only happens when you charge, and if you fail the roll the charge doesn't happen, I think). They are weak and squishy but make lots of attacks. Also, you can summon 3 of them on 5+, but they'll be flying and won't be able to block anything that turn unless they successfully charge, which reduces their value as a summoned chaff.
Tomb Swarms: Same "come and go" ability as Sepulchral Stalkers, and the unit revives d3 models every time they come out after the first time. But you´ll lose a turn by doing that, they don't have any save at all, and it's difficult to justify their "wound cost" (5 each). They're also weak as hell, so they don't make good teleporting assasins. Their only worth is as cheap summonable chaff, 3 at 5+, which is a pretty low casting roll, but you'll also get something very poor. Use them at desperate times, like when you need to block for a turn a charge to your wizard.
Tactics
The only tactic you need is this:
1: Buy a single Tomb Swarm.
2: Deploy it as the entirety of your army.
3: Declare Sudden Death and choose Endure.
4: Burrow the Tomb Swam.
5: Hang around for 6 turns.
6: Win.
- It won't work. As per the rules, if, at any point, you don't have any unit on the battlefield you lose. A tomb swarm is removed form the battlefield when it burrows.
- What about a unit of Carrion with their untargetable ability?
- WELL DONE, you just broke the game... (Except if your opponent also deploy 1 fig) Just let them deploy first.
External links
Rules here [1]
Update
No longer, can you get named characters in these pdfs, but a Redditfag has done the unexpected: [2]
/tg/ gets shit done, but this Redditor doesn't mind helping sometimes (Grand Alliance: Digital anyone?)
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